Jo Cox Inquest Latest

Labour MP Jo Cox died from multiple stab and gunshot wounds, a coroner has been told.

An inquest into the death of Mrs Cox has been opened and adjourned, after she was attacked outside her constituency surgery in Birstall, West Yorkshire, just over a week ago.

Detective Superintendent Nick Wallen, of West Yorkshire Police, told a brief hearing at Bradford Coroners Court it was immediately clear to paramedics and police that the 41-year-old mother of two young children was “very seriously injured indeed”.

Mr Wallen said medics worked to save her life but she was pronounced dead by a doctor in an ambulance outside Birstall library on June 16. She did not go to hospital.

The detective confirmed that a post-mortem examination had shown a preliminary cause of death as “multiple stab and gunshot wounds”.

He said lawyers for Thomas Mair, the man charged with murdering the Batley and Spen MP, did not require a second post-mortem examination.

Coroner Martin Fleming said this meant he could release Mrs Cox's body “so the family can get on with the grieving process”.

Mr Fleming adjourned the six-minute inquest hearing until the conclusion of criminal proceedings.